Enterprise Storage
Startup Readies iSCSI Storage
Start-up Intransa said it will deliver this month storage systems supporting IP and blocks of data, bridging an important gap and helping to deliver on some of IP storages promise. The company plans to ship the IP5000, which moves information using the iSCSI protocol. Roger Cox, an industry analyst at Gartner, credited Intransa and another vendor, EqualLogic, with helping to bring IP storage to fruition after a couple of years of hype. He added that Microsofts move to embed iSCSI support into Windows 2003 will help the IP storage vendors greatly.
Read the full story on:InformationWeek
Entrada Ships CWDM System
Entrada Networks Friday announced today that it has started shipping Silverline-CWDM-400, a cost-effective Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing (CWDM) based system that can extend the range of storage area networks to 80 kilometers without amplification. The Linux-based system provides a low-cost alternative for transport of four bi-directional optical channels—eight wavelengths—onto one single-mode fiber. In addition, the company has successfully completed its interoperability testing with Dot Hills SANnet II storage appliance.
Read the full press release here
Personal Storage
Hitachi Loss Forces Move to Consumer Market Hard Disks
Hitachi Ltd., Japans largest electronics maker, Friday said it will lose $330 million in its hard disk drive business this year because of weak personal computer demand. Hitachi, which bought IBMs hard disk drive business last year, will increase production of smaller drives used in hand-held PCs and digital cameras and reduce production of those for computers, Hitachi Senior Managing Director Isao Ono said at a briefing in Tokyo.
Read the full story on:Bloomberg.com
Storage Business
Asia-Pacific Disk Shipments Up, Revenue Falls
The Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) disk drive market saw capacity-sold figures increase by 31.4 percent but revenue from those sales fall by 11 percent between 2002 and 2003,according to IDC. In the first quarter of 2002, capacity-sold totals were 12,410TB and revenue reached $552 million, amounting to a cost of $44.50 per gigabyte. In the first quarter of 2003, the capacity-sold level rose to 16,311TB with revenue of $490.5 million, coming to a cost of $30.07 per gigabyte. Over the year, the price per gigabyte fell by 32 percent, putting increased pressure on disk drive manufacturers already tight margins, according to IDC.
Read the full story on:IDG